Strawberry Fields
by cloverish
Summary: Naley. The James family was happy for a long time, only now it seemed like five seconds of happiness at the most. Everything they had in their hands had started to fade away. WWII. He shouldn’t have been so presumptuous to think he could save her.
1. Prologue

**AN:** I know I have a story on hold, but I couldn't _hold myself _when this came into mind. As I'm trying to get something more light with _Yesterday_, I wanted something else with a little bit more of drama. Along comes the Prolog of what I came up with. I am expecting to update both, this story and _Yesterday_ more constantly. I have a couple of chapters of _Yesterday_ on my computer, but the thing's been dead to the world for the past four months. I'll try to fix that as soon as possible.

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**Strawberry Fields**

**Prologue.****  
Forever.**

_Poland, September 1941_

"Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, lived a beautiful princess-" A sweet voice vibrated through the crowded room.

"What was her name, auntie Haley?" A small blond little girl interrupted. Haley could almost see her deep brown eyes glowing in expectation; if only it wasn't so dark. If only she could light up a candle or two… just to keep the fear away from the five small children she cared for. The only lighten candle was on the furthest side, and barely lit the cold corner were the kids were.

"What do you want her name to be, Indra?" The young woman asked softly as she reached out to the whimpering baby on the floor next to her. She placed a hand on Maggie's tummy, and the whimpers turned into gurgles.

"I don't know." She could, too, almost see the pink little pout that formed on the three year old's lips. Indra lifted her little hands and shrugged her shoulders, still in doubt.

"How about we name her Indra?" Haley poked the girl's nose gently, and the little one giggled a little too loudly.

"No fair. You're gonna name the princess after Indie because she your fav'rite!" The eldest girl of the bunch protested. Jenny had just turned five, and she had an attitude, like her mother.

"Nonsense, Jens. Last week the princess' name was Jennifer." In realization, Jenny's lips formed an 'o' and she closed her mouth shut, her lips very thin against the other.

"Okay, so… Once upon a time, in a land far, far away lived a princess named Indra and-" She sighed, being cut off again. This time by the voice on their only radio.

_"The elements of the Third Reich have declared within this morning that all Jews shall wear a golden star of identification on top of their clothing. Disobey this rule is not an option as the..."_

"Mother, turn that off." Haley got up from her sit on the floor amogst the kids and moved herself to the table on the corner; without second thought she pushed the off button and with a twist the voice that before whispered in the radio was gone.

"I'm sorry, kids. Bedtime. Chop, chop." She clapped her hand slightly and the kids groaned.

"But what about the story?" Little Amelia asked as her fist poked her eyes, heavy lided as sleep began to settle.

"If only we had a bed to sleep in." Nathaniel, the only boy and the oldest child groaned, walking with much effort towards the cot set of old blankets and cloth on the adjacent room.

"Do we have to go in the dark auntie Haley?" Indra lifted her little arms towards her aunt, and the oldest complied, cuddling the three-year-old in her arms. The only candle they could light was on the table, where the grown ups sat.

The room was square and spacious, one table in the first corner, cots in all other three. It had wooden floor, two small windows covered with wood boards, to keep people from the streets to see the inside, and to keep the little ones from peeking on what they were missing on the daylight.

It smelt mostly of mold, sweat, and old bread. All the concrete walls made it scalding hot to them during the days and fairly cold during the nights. Those extremes didn't seem to make them any good. But then again, nothing about this hiding place would ever make them any good.

The grown ups hiding consisted of Lydia and Jimmy James once parents of eight; their four daughters and two of their girls' husbands.

Quinn, the oldest and Matthew, her husband, were able to join the family earlier in that year, along with Nathaniel, who had just turned seven and Magali who was born weeks before.

Vivian and her husband, Gareth, had been living with her mother for two years, since when Jews were no longer allowed on the street after 8pm. With them, Amelia who was now four.

Taylor, now a widower went from Germany to Poland when her husband and son were killed. Her only happiness was Jennifer; who is still to this day, the spitting image of her late husband.

Twenty years before, the then small James family had moved to Poland in search of a better life. Jimmy had found a job that paid enough to raise his children and give them comfort, and everything else they needed, even if futile needs. The family bought their fair share of land, and planted fruits to sell on the local markets.

They were happy for a long time, only now it seemed like five seconds of peacefulness and happiness at the most. Everything they had in their hands had started to fade away. Who was to know, that everything they had built would be taken away from them. Including themselves.

Haley stood next to her mother, a comforting hand lying on her shoulder. No words were spoken. The grown ups, around the mohogony table were silent, still waiting for the death list of the Belzec death camp, where Jacob, the last young James male alive was send to six weeks previous.

"Put her in bed, Haley." Jimmy's voice was filled with sour. He didn't want his little girl, his beloved grandchild to listen to her father's name after the words death and camp.

Nodding shortly, she placed Indra on her hip and followed to the other room, where she placed the girl on the cot they shared. Jennifer was wrong when she said Indra was Haley's favorite; but Indie was the one that needed her more. Her mother and father were both taken to concentration camps; the news of her mother's death came in the radio two weeks after. They knew it was only a matter of time until Jake's name was spoken.

"Good night, baby." She said softly, kissing the girl's forehead, and pulling th old comforter around her, so she wouldn't be cold.

"Come soon, auntie." Indie requested in her small, sleepy voice.

"I'll come soon. I promise." Getting up from where she was on her knees, Haley silently bid goodnight to the rest of the children as she head back, and then took a seat on the table.

Quinn had a fussy Maggie in her arms, Jimmy had his head in his hands. Lydia just waited.

"He's going to be okay." Haley whispered; more to herself than to the others.

Step sounds echoed on the streets below. It was fairly quiet at night where the James family was hiding, one of the motives they tried to keep the children quiet after six, and to keep the adults home before seven, just in case…

"How can you say that, Haley? He's not going to be okay. None of us are okay!" Taylor spoke a little too loudly, causing Maggie wails to increase in intensity.

"Quiet, Tay." The baby's mother tried, unsuccessfully, to make her stop crying.

Flashlights shone through the gaps of the woods that closed window. Lydia and her youngest both gasped. Jimmy couldn't help but feel like a deer on bright light: paralyzed. He knew once they were found, there was nothing left to do but hope. And hope was also fading… like the memories of the three sons he had already lost.

The step sounds became fast and louder. Haley knew they were coming. They were getting closer. Too close. Closer than ever before. They had already had two scares in the past month, but the soldiers would always get distracted by something else and leave the block. Why weren't they leaving this time? They should leave! Leave them alone.

"Make her stop, Quinn. Make her stop, now!" The request from Vivian came in a rushed and despaired whisper.

Getting up from her chair as fast and silently as she could, Haley raced towards the adjacent room, grabbing a sleeping Indra and clutching the girl tightly to her chest. She had promised her brother she wasn't going to let anything happen to his little girl. Anything. And keep her promise is what she did.

"Someone's in there, I hear voices. Break through!" a male voice yelled outside.

Soon, they were pounding on the doors.


	2. Chapter 1

**AN:** Thanks everyone for your feedback, I'm hoping you will enjoy this chapter (even if enjoying it might sound a little bit sick after you've read it… anyway), and I'm sending a special thanks to _LilahClock_ (Lily) for naming half my characters, and _Rocket7Roe_ (Thay) for being my World War II walking encyclopedia, thank you for the gory details. Oh, and if I got anything wrong now you know she's to blame!

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**Strawberry Fields  
Chapter One.**

"Someone's in there, I hear voices. Break through!" The male voice outside yelled. Right after the banging at the door began. The soldiers seemed to be colliding their strong sides with the door. It had five locks on the inside. But maybe, just maybe that only had drawn the attention to the dirty old shed. In search of safety for his family, Jimmy James might've forgotten that simple, yet very important detail.

While the women tried to hide themselves in a corner, the three remaining men of the family stood still. Instinctively in position to defend their wives, in-laws and children.

It must have taken around two minutes do pound the door down and break it through, but to the large family hidden inside it felt like forever and one second were just the same thing. Lydia could swear she saw her whole life pass by right in front of her eyes. And often that wasn't a good sign.

Once there were no boundaries protecting the family from the Nazis, fifteen men came inside the shed, and with much violence they struck upon Jimmy, Matthew and Gareth. Then they moved upon Lydia and her three daughters.

There had been no time for Quinn to hide the baby in the adjacent room, and her scared cries seemed to wake up all the children.

Seeing their aunt wrapped up with their cousin, the children moved from their designed cots and crawled closer to Haley. This was what their parents had been telling them about. Or not telling them about. The little ones knew that something bad could happen to their family. They didn't know what, or when – and most importantly, why -, they just knew it could happen.

Haley was grateful she didn't have to stop the children from talking. They must've been shocked beyond imaginable; usually blabbermouths, now quiet and hugging each other in hope of protection.

Opening her arms, the small woman tried to hug all of her nieces and nephew at once. But once they heard a shrieking scream of Taylor's, Jennifer moved from Haley's grasp and ran towards the bigger room.

"Mommy!" the young girl cried upon seeing a large blond man pulling her mother out the door. Fear flashed in Taylor's eye. Jenny shouldn't have moved, she should've stood put with the other kids.

"Jenny, no!" The mother tried to reach for her daughter, only to have her face heavily slapped by the soldier. Seeing her mother hurt, Jenny started crying, and ran to hug Taylor's leg. In a swift move of the soldier, she was on the floor whimpering. The man had kicked her right on the stomach, and she fell down.

"Get this shit over with, Scott." The man barked, and the Scott guy picked Jennifer from the floor and passed her on to someone else. He knew he had lost two of the kids, counting the baby with one of the ladies, but he was also sure there were more of them hidden, and he was trying to spare them.

During that month, the small army that patrolled the neighborhood in search of hidden Jews to take to the concentration camps, but once he saw through the gap a large amount of children playing happily with their dolls made of cloth and cars made of wood. And he stood there thinking, with all the war going on, children were still able to be gleeful. That was the main reason why the two times the army had come closer to the shed, he was able to distract them, saying there was something else the other way. The captain was often mad, since both times there was nothing where Scott had pointed. Basically, that's the reason why he wasn't so trustworthy anymore.

"I'll look here." He warned the captain heading to the small door that served as passage to the tiny room.

"Oh, you will not. You always come up with nothing! Schögl, cover the area and make sure no one stays behind!" Captain Pruess warned in a loud voice, taking Jimmy out of the shed and towards the truck that would transport them to the train station.

While Oliver Schögl sent Scott a dirty look, the made his way through the small door.

"I have four more here!" He warned and more men came in to help the move. Haley let go of the children and stood up, in vain, but trying to protect the smaller ones. She kept Indra's hand clapped tightly with hers at all times.

One of the soldiers grabbed Nathaniel by the arms; the little boy screamed and kicked the man's shin. Unfortunately for the young one, it wasn't the wisest of the ideas.

"No! Let me go! Let me go!" he yelled and kicked his little legs, trying to hit the man who was now holding him out at arms length, like a bag of trash.

"I'm dropping this little rat, take the rest of them. I counted Scott, don't you fucking think I didn't. I will remember their faces and they must all be inside those damn trucks in fifteen minutes, or else!" His voice sent shrills down Haley's spine. If those dirty hands came anywhere near her, she would bite them until it drew blood.

As if taking his aunt's idea right out of her brain, Nathaniel bit the soldiers hand and was dropped on the floor. He tried to stand up but his legs were faulting, and giving in. Soon a very big foot collided with his butt, and sent him flying four feet, crashing his head on the wall.

"Nate!" Haley yelled, holding the two youngsters behind her, so they couldn't see what was happening to their older cousin. "Let him go! Take me instead."

"We will take you regardless, now move before I make your little head collide with the wall." He barked, and Soldier Scott moved to take them. He grabbed her arm rather gently, and the look in his eyes told her he didn't want to be doing that. But regardless of that fact, he was still doing it. He was helping to destroy her family, and she hated him for it. She hated him more than she had ever hated anyone else in her entire life.

While he pushed Haley and Indra outside, another strong man came in to take Amelia. Haley turned her head to look at the frightened child, she was so skinny from the lack of food, her clothes were dirty, and her only pink ribbon left was loosely dropping from her dark hair.

The flashlight made her wince, and turn her head towards front. She never knew that, that was going to be the last time she saw her little niece. Once outside, she was greeted by the dark black night. There were only two trucks left; she saw Nathaniel and her father looking back from the first truck that took off. The man holding Amelia carelessly threw her in the second truck, and climbed in. They took off as well. And it left her with Indra. She was more than scared, but she couldn't let it trespass to the little girl. She had to make sure Indie thought what was happening to them wasn't bad.

The soldier she now knew as Scott pushed her softly towards the truck, indicating she should climb in. He was silently hoping she wouldn't make things difficult for him, and he didn't want to hurt them.

She first placed a very confused little girl on the truck before turning back and making eye contact with the army man before her. With help of the street light she could see his eyes: blue and full of shame. And then it struck her, that was the reason they were doing _this_ to them. Eyes like that didn't belong in her family. She shook her head disappointedly at him and asked softly, "Why are you doing this?"

The man with the baby blues swallowed hard. It felt like he had just pushed a frog down his throat, and the damned amphibian was just jumping right back up.

"Get her inside the damn truck already! We have four more places to hit!" The man in the driver's seat made sure to shout from inside the window.

He looked at her pointedly, and gently pushed her into the vehicle, his large hand coming in contact with her skinny back. He could feel her ribcage and that bothered him. It bothered him that all those children were mostly going to be killed upon arrival at the camp. It bothered him that all those women in that truck would probably work themselves to death. And it bothered him the most that he felt the need to give an explanation to the young woman he had just shoved into that stupid truck.

Haley sat on one of the benches on the side of the vehicle, and cuddled Indra. She looked up, taking in her surroundings; none of these girls were known to her; her mother and sisters must have been in the truck where the man had cruelly thrown Amelia to. She looked around and was frightened to realize that all the excruciating pain and fear that she could see on the other women's eyes mirrored her own. They started moving and shaking upon the pebble stoned streets.

"Where are we going auntie Haley?" Indra's small voice asked, and the little girl next to her perked up. She too wanted to know where they were going.

"We are going to a camp, Indie." She told her with a small smile.

"Like we did for the summer? On grampa's farm with the fields?" She asked back with glee.

"Yeah, one just like that. But this one is special. You have to close your eyes really hard to see all the goodness in it, because that is like your secret password to get it. If you only look at what's there, you won't be able to see the fields." Haley whispered softly, and smiled to the little girl next to her niece, as she told them both the story.

"Will we see mommy?" Indra asked with such innocence that it made her heart ache. She didn't know all the details about what went on, on concentration camps. She did know it wasn't good. And she did know you would most likely die in it.

"If we stay there long enough, we will see your mommy." Haley kissed the girl's blonde head and sighed. "Close your eyes now, little one. And imagine it, and I promise you everything will be fine."

Biting her bottom lip, she refused to shed one single tear. She had done nothing wrong. She had no faults for her family's religion. She wasn't to blame for her dark brown eyes.

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_Feedback is **highly** appreciated._

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	3. Chapter 2

**AN:** Thanks everyone for the feedback, once again. You guys are great. I am once again thanking my Thaypedia, you are awesome, dude! Just on a side note, people have been asking, and just thought I'd answer it, more characters from the series will be included soon. Next chapter I'll possibly introduce two of them. I hope you enjoy your reading and leave me some amazing feedback again.

**This is a reupload. I am sorry. People seemed to have trouble viewing it, and when replacing the chapter caused no effects, I thought I'd delete them and upload them again. I apologize for the inconvenience.**

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**Strawberry Fields  
Chapter two**

It was with much shame that Nathan Scott wore the swastika on his left sleeve. It was with much shame he wore that black uniform, that he buttoned up the four white buttons every morning. He was ashamed to be a part of the Schutzstaffel's regular troop. All of that was demanded of him. His father had been a military for the longest time, and had climbed up during this war, and became a member of the Protective Squadron. He had taught his sons about the military duties as soon as they were old enough to hold a rifle. He said the boys were in dept with him as he had spent eighteen years feeding, clothing and cleaning them up. Daniel Scott said this was the least his sons could do to pay him back, so he forced both of them into de squadron.

The truck shuck, and with every turn and twist the woman in the back of it would squeeze themselves against the other. Some were asleep, some were pretending to be asleep, some were brainstorming the best way to get out of there. But not her; not Haley. Haley just sat there, trying to understand what was happening, trying to understand this war. Helplessly trying to figure out how someone could just break inside a home and tear a family apart. A family like hers'; one that would stick together through thick and thin. There was never once she couldn't rely on her parents, or brothers and sisters and in-law's. The only thing she had left was her niece.

Now more than ever she was grateful for the resemblance between Indra and herself, making they would pass by as mother and daughter, even though she was only seventeen. If that didn't work out, at least they could both pass as sisters; if that even meant they would be able to be together. Being over sixteen, she was no longer a child; so if they separated the youngsters from the adults she would never see her little Indie again.

She kissed the little girl's mass of blonde hair and cuddled her close. In the rush to leave the shed she had forgotten to grab the child's coat, but Haley had been wearing hers' when the SS troop came in; so she opened it up and placed the small kid on her lap, enclosing the coat around both of them, trying her hardest to keep Indra warm. The little one smiled in her sleep, probably dreaming about her encounter with her mommy, her thumb fell loosely between her lips, and from time to time when the vehicle took a fast turn, she would whimper and suck on her thumb rapidly.

She felt sleep slowly settling in and her eyelids became heavier and heavier by the second. She tried to fight back, but it was useless, Haley just didn't want to be asleep when they got there, wherever 'there' was. She desperately wanted to know where she was going, so maybe, just maybe, she could find a plane to escape… or at least let Indra go free.

She fell asleep then, despite the cold.

The truck suddenly stopped, it violently shook as the driver hit the break waking Haley up instantly. The smell of cold air, mold and smoke filled her nostrils. The stopped at another village, she recognized it, she knew about the ghettos in there. Her family had lived in one of those for a couple of weeks until they found the shed; and found it safer since the ghettos were known by the SS and the officers.

Machine guns fired at the same time, Haley instinctively placed both her hands tightly on Indra's ear, trying to muffle the horrid sound of screams. Masses of bodies lay carelessly on narrow streets of pebble stones; bags and luggage of those dead people were strewed on the streets and sidewalks as well. Haley closed her eyes trying to figure out what else was in the air; she couldn't quite put her finger on it. The smell of iron and old blood became stronger and stronger.

She saw a kid on the street, Arian, not much younger than she was, and she was yelling goodbye with all her might to the Jews. Haley resented it. She resented the fact that that girl seemed happy about this massive murder movement.

"Can we go home now?" Indra whispered, her deep brown eyes matching her aunt's.

"I'm sorry, honey. We have to go all the way. But don't worry. The noise… they are just fireworks. Everyone's happy to be going to the camp." She was glad the truck was covered with lone and Indra couldn't really see what was going on outside, since Haley's bigger body covered her view.

"Then why are they screaming?" Haley could almost touch the fear in her voice.

"Didn't you scream with happiness that day your daddy took you horseback riding, and he let you hold the reins?"

"Yeah!" She whispered excitedly, even though she could feel herself succumbing to sleep again.

"That's what they're doing too."

"Oh." Was all she said before snuggling to her auntie's warmth and drifting back to a dreamy sleep.

Feeling sleep on the way to get the best of her, Haley closed her eyes and tried to focus on the good memories she had, instead of fearing the near future. More girls were thrown inside the vehicle and they hit the road once again.

The sun was starting to rise, and the rays shining through the opening kissed Haley's skin. She smiled in her sleep, she could almost taste the hot chocolate milk, buttered toast and sausages. It made her mouth water, and her eyes fluttered open. Once she was all adjusted to the reality, a horrid indescribable feeling made itself home, right on the pit of her stomach.

The train's machinery noise, and the whistles blowing made her eyes perk up, she now became aware of where she was. The men opened up the hoisted metal that kept them from falling, and running away. She felt Indra's weight leave her lap, some soldier grabbed Haley's arm so tightly she was sure it would leave a bruise, and then left her on the floor. She quickly took her coat off wrapping it securely around the little one's body.

"Leave your luggage! It will follow you behind. Label it properly, given name first and then the surname. Do not, I repeat, do not take your belongings with you." A raspy voice said on the loudspeaker, hundreds of people were given chalk, and they scribbled their information on their leather suitcases. Haley hadn't brought anything with her. Just herself and the cloths off her back.

"Men to the left! Women to the right!" Through came soldiers, separating husbands and wives, mothers and sons. They ignored their tears with such coldness, it was almost unbelievable. Everything Haley wanted was for those men to put themselves in the Jew's places. How would they feel if they were so cruelly separated from their children, parents and beloved wives? It was impossible that they had no sentiment whatsoever.

"Children must be reported!" The voice came blasting through the loudspeaker again. "Children over the age of five in the center. I repeat, in the center!" daughters were ripped from their mothers, and everything became a sobbing fest.

"No. She only ten, she can't be alone." A mother begged the SS sentinel, he still tried to take the girl from the woman's arms, but she wouldn't let go. An officer found himself watching the scene unfold. It was useless. He took his hand to his coat pocket and retrieved a Luger P 08 and without thinking twice he shot the girl on the cranium. Blood spilt everywhere, and the mother cried in agony, her daughter was dead on the floor. Her cries hurt Haley's ears, and she once again tried to protect Indra from the view.

The mother fell on her knees, and grieved her daughter's death for all of twenty seconds. Soon the pistol shot again, this time on the back of the mother's head, and she, too, was left to die on the dirty floor.

Haley felt one single tear run down her cheek, and she brushed it away, ashamed. She shut her eyes tightly, and when she opened again she found those baby blues staring right back at her. He moved closer and closer, and she stumbled a couple of steps backwards.

He breathed in deeply, and tried to reach out for her hand.

"Don't you dare touch me again!" she barked, backing away.

"Look, I can explain…" His throat was dry, and he couldn't swallow.

"Explain why you tear families apart? Why you judge people because of their religion? Because they aren't truly Arians? You," she pointed her finger at him accusingly. "You have dark hair. Can you be considered a true Arian?" His cap didn't cover all of his hair, and his eyebrows sure gave away the color. "I'm blonde, should that mean I can live? No wait, I don't have your blue eyes. Well guess what, Mr. I Can Explain, if I am going to be slaved because I'm not pure, than so should you!" She stomped her small foot on the dirty floor.

"Listen, please…"

"No! Why are you doing this to me? Go bug someone else with your pity looks. If anyone should be sending those it's me to you! Your eyes tell me you don't want to be doing this, but still you keep doing it! You keep bringing people, and look what your people have done!" she waved her hand dismissively towards where bodies of mother and daughter lay on the floor, surrounded by a pool of blood. "She was ten, did you know that? Did you know that she probably wanted to be a singer, or a ballerina, or maybe, just maybe she just wanted to grow up and fall in love. Did you ever stop to think about that? What if she was your daughter? Would you just stay behind and watch like you did just now?" Her voice was getting louder, and she once again did what little Indra was probably used to already, she clapped her hands on the little one's ears.

The man in front of her was stunned, and speechless.

"That's what I thought. So you, don't ever come near me again, do you understand? Don't you dare lay one single hand on me. Or even better, don't you even look my way again. You know it won't be too hard, I mean, how many of us are you intending to kill today?" Her face was as red as a tomato as she turned on her heels and walked off in another direction, pulling a stumbling Indra with her.

The little girl looked back and smiled at the dumbfounded expression on the soldier's face. She lifted her hand and waved while whispering "Bye, bye." And skipping as fast as her little legs would let her so she could catch up with her aunt's long and rapid strides.


	4. Chapter 3

**AN:** I've been getting reviews of people wondering why I haven't gotten much of a feedback to this story. I said it's because it's strong in content, and not in a way people are used to. I've been getting a lot of hits (here and on other sites) but not many responses and I understand. I also encourage you to stop reading now if you don't have the stomach to endure it. I am and will always be a little girl in love with fairy tales, but I want to put realistic points into this story. Someone also said people will be more responsive of it once Naley hits the romance bit. I seriously hope so, and I ensure you that they will be romantically involved, even though I don't plan on leaving much of reality out of it. With that said, enjoy your reading. And if you really do enjoy your reading, please spend a couple of extras seconds to let me know, so I can prepare a better chapter to follow.

Thanks Thay (rocket7roe) for the details, once again. And for the soundtrack to help my many moods become one: a writing mood. And for being my history beta, and making sure I had gotten everything correctly.

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**Strawberry Fields  
Chapter three.**

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"Hulz, Penny. Hulz, Heidi. Iönsl, Hannah." An officer shouted names from a list, which lay in his hands. As the women identified themselves, they were taken to one of the wagons. It was a fuss, too many people for Haley's liking. She wasn't the shiest girl of all, but she had come now to realize she wasn't a people person. At least not in this particular situation.

She looked around, in search for her family. How many other train stations had been taken down by the Nazis for their full command? How many other trains had left since that faithful hour the day before where she was taken away from the place she had called home for the past two years? She bowed her head; of course she wasn't going to find anyone.

She just kept walking, trying to prolong the little bit of freedom she still had left, when right in front of her an officer shot a little girl, just a couple of year older than Indra. The little one had tried to run away, in vain.

Haley turned around, blocking her niece's view, and then she bent down,

"Hey, Indra? How about we play a game?" She smiled making the proposition, and the girl's eyes lit up.

"What kind of game?" Indra bit her bottom lip, just like Haley used to do when she was thinking too hard.

"Uh, I'm going to put these on your eyes," she started explaining, pulling a black band that kept her hair from falling on the face, "and we'll play a little game. You trust me, don't you?"

"Yeah." She waited for that answer before fastening the band around her head to cover her eyes.

"Can you see anything?"

"No."

"Good. Now here's the game. You have to trust me, and I'll be your eyes. Remember when I said you have to close your eyes to see the field?" The little one nodded, so Haley continued her explanation on the game she had just made up. "This band will help you, so you can be in the fields at all times. But you won't have any problems walking, because I'll be here to tell you where to go."

"Okay."

"James, Haley. James, Indra. Jenkins, Natasha." The harsh voice shouted. Haley closed her eyes and swallowed the lump in her throat.

"Auntie, they called our names. Do we have to go?" Indie asked, her head was still in the same position, even though Haley had just got up. The aunt took that as a sign that the young child couldn't, truly, see a thing.

Taking her niece's small hand in her own, Haley stepped forward, and didn't fight back when she was harshly pushed in the wagon's direction.

"Come on, Innie. Climb up." Lifting the child's arms, she helped the little one climb on the train, and followed suit, before any measures were taken for slowness.

The wagon was dark, and it smelled of people. Suddenly, the smell of people wasn't very good. Specially due to the lack of cleaning. It was shaped as a rectangle, and was an open space, no place to sit but the floor. And the floor was consumed by cockroaches, and rats, alive and dead. Haley moved to sit on a corner near the door that connected this wagon to the one in front of it, and almost threw up when she saw a kid, in a desperate act of hunger, stuff her mouth with the dead insects.

Her face scrunched up, not only in disgust but in pain. How could life change like that? Her family wasn't exactly wealthy, but they did have their fare share of savings in the bank, unfortunately those bank accounts were closed to them, and now were probably being used by the Nazis. In a certain way, it was like the Jews financed their once death.

"Auntie Haley?"

"Yes?" Haley placed both her arms around the youngster, and sat Indra on her lap.

"I didn't ask. What kind of field is it?" She, too, hadn't thought of that, and sighed.

"What kind of field do you want it to be?" Plenty of curiosity in her question.

"I dunno. One with fruits, maybe. I miss them." Indra patted her grumbling stomach, but she also knew it would be too hard for her aunt if she asked for food.

"I miss them too, buddy." Resting her chin on the little girl's head, she sighed once again.

With time, more and more women and children were thrown towards that wagon, until air was almost scarce, and seriously fogging, space for moving their arms was actually only an illusion.

Haley had unconsciously counted in which wagon they were, and it now came to mind that they were only on the third one for workers. And that meant this still had a little time left to bake in the human heat before moving.

She sighed deeply, leaning her head on the wooden walls. That was when she heard it. The most weird and somewhat painful sort of cough. She looked to her right side, noticing the sound came from there, and there she saw her, and her heart sunk. God, she must have been so beautiful when not going through all this horribleness. The girl right beside her, a brunette, with long and once upon a time silky hair; she had the most terrified green eyes Haley had ever seen, and when she forced her mouth shut, her dimples would resolve on her cheeks. Haley could bet they would be even deeper when the girl smiled, but she somewhat knew that might not ever happen again.

"Are you okay?" the question was asked in a rushed whisper. Although knowing there was an obvious answer to that question – such as 'no' -, she still asked, maybe, just maybe she could do something to help.

"As I'll ever be…" she stopped middle phrase to cough, covering her mouth with her shirt. "… until this is over."

Now the question that haunted them was: will it ever be over?

--

The night fell slowly, and with it came coldness. The air was incredibly dry, making every passenger even thirstier. Some had fallen asleep due to boredom and fear. Some were quiet, mostly the ones that were once chit chatting, with throats that dry, it hurt to even try and swallow some saliva, and even those were slowly falling asleep.

Haley held a sleepy Indra tightly, trying to warm the little one.

"She's beautiful." Said a raspy voice in a cold, trembling whisper.

"Thanks." Smiling softly, she stroked the youngster's silky hair.

"Is she your's?"

"Niece." She whispered in a rush, and nodded. The girl seemed to have understood, as she, too, nodded. "Are you better? You know, from the cough." Haley wondered aloud, showing genuine concern towards the woman next to her.

"Yeah. Must have been the dust." She lied.

"Oh, that's good, then." The silence they fell into was uncomfortable. The only noise they would hear were one or other person snoring, and the clipping noises of rat's paws clicking on the wooden floor.

"Ever wondered where they're taking us?" Her voice was nonchalant, but her eyes were curious.

"I'm not sure, but I do have a feeling we aren't going to like it."

"I guess we share those."

"Unfortunately."

The door near them peeked open, and Haley's first thought were 'not him again!' when she saw his sad blues. He looked around to make sure no one else was awake, and silently kneeled in front of Haley, Indra and their new friends.

"Here, drink these." He whispered softly, giving each of them a bottle on mineral water.

"Why? What did you put in them?" Haley questioned, while the brunette opened the bottle and downed it at light speed.

"Nothing. They haven't been opened. They're mine. Drink it. I don't know when I'll be able to give more to you." He quietly pleaded, could she just drink the damn thing already.

One of her eye brows perked up in doubt. Nathan took the bottle from her hands and opened, taking a gulp to prove her he had done nothing.

"Why are you doing this to us? Why not someone else? Go give it to someone else."

"Damn it, will you just drink it!" His voice was harsher then when she had ever heard it, not that she had heard it lots of times. But to her, this would probably be the tune of when he took her out of her house, not of when he pleaded her to drink some water.

Biting her bottom lip, she finally took long sips on the liquid, feeling relieve as soon as it touched her waiting lips. She stopped, though, right in the middle of the bottled, closing it and placing it beside her.

"Saving for later." She explained, he shook his head.

"No. They will take it from you. We'll give them water later, not like this, but they will be given water. Her." He nodded his head towards Indra. "She must be thirsty too." He once again, took the bottle from her side and opened it, while Haley opened the girl's mouth. Nathan poured some of the content inside it, and Indra woke up, instinctively chugging on the bottle, and grasping it with both her hands. Once she was done, she sat up, her back against her aunt's chest, and in rapid move, the took the black band away from her eyes, leaving it to fall loosely around her neck.

"Thanks." The brunette dimpled girl girl's voice was still raspy, but now, it was naturally.

"Auntie Haley, aren't you gonna thank the nice man?" Indra's large brown eyes glistened, as she look up to her aunt.

"Thank you." Haley murmured truthfully, holding her little girl closer as Indra tried to put the lid back on the bottle.

"You're welcome, Haley. And?" He gently took the other girl's bottle from her, and smiled with Indra held hers out for him.

"Brooke." The brunette told him when he was looking pointedly at her. Haley suddenly felt silly for not asking before.

"I'm Indra." The little one offered, with a toothy grin.

"That's a beautiful name." The little one nodded.

"Means water, right Auntie? Auntie Haley's the sun light, and I'm water. Everything grandpa needed for his fruit field!" she announced, repeating the exact words Jimmy had said the previous summer, in their small, and last, escape to the old fields; just to say goodbye.

Haley felt a tug in her heart, hearing her father's happy words. For the first time in these last horrid couple of days, she felt her cheeks dampening quickly.

Nathan wiped her creamy cheeks with his thumb, and made her a silent promise. She would be okay. No matter what, he would protect her with his life.


	5. Chapter 4

**AN:** I am so sorry for the lack of updates. College seems to be demanding my full time, so do the end of semester projects. Not only that, but this story seems to be reaching a point where it's so difficult for me to write. Don't mistake it with a writer's block, nope. I have everything settled in my mind; I just need to focus on my writing. I do believe that buying every movie about the WWII I could get my hands on is not only helping by getting me in the mood to write a couple of paragraphs, but they're also increasing the production of my tear glands.

Another known character is introduced in this peace. I, once again, apologize for the delay, and for the tiny size of my chapters… writing them long is draining not only for me, but I believe for reading as well.

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**Strawberry Fields**

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**Chapter 4**

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As the sun began to rise, every single woman in the train wagon began awaking. Thirstiness among them. A small child cried in despair and hunger, on the furthest corner.

Haley shut her eyes tightly.

"Are you okay?" a raspy voice asked. The blonde woman swallowed hard, and nodded her head. "Liar" Was the only response she got from the brunette next to her.

"Just worried." They traded sympathetic little smiles as the youngster finally awoke.

"Auntie Haley?"

"Yes, baby?"

"Where are we?" The blonde little girl scratched her eyes with tight fists, sitting up on her aunt's lap.

"We're on a train, remember?" She asked softly, kissing the child's chubby cheek.

"Oh."

"Water!!" a tired, old lady who was close to the closest thing to a window, requested loudly and the train started to decrease in velocity. After the first manifest, many other women started to yell for water. The commotion started developing a migraine on Haley and Brooke.

-- --

She didn't know how many hours they had been there, but she was sure the sun had risen at least three times already. But there was no comfort in that. No comfort in getting on their final destination. Haley actually dreaded the exact moment the train would come to a full stop 'there', wherever 'there' was. She had already heard an exorbitant number of rumored possibilities as to what would happen once they got into what they now knew as 'work camp', and as to how horrible the work camp would be.

Being mostly scared of having them take little Indra away from her arms, she had a strong gut feeling that once they got 'there', she would never get out; at least not in flesh, blood, bones and soul all together.

With Indra asleep in her arms, she was suddenly immersed in a land of deep thoughts, where the little one would be safe with… Soldier Scott?

That was the only thing she knew of him. That and those gorgeous blue eyes of his. At least she imagined them gorgeous, once all that sadness was taken away from them.

Shaking her head in disapproval, those thoughts altogether dissipated. Sure the soldier had helped them… a little. He have them water when thirst was killing, but that was it. Haley knew it was much more risky to secretly save a child from certain, upcoming death, than contrabanding water to the prisoners.

"We're stopping again?" her new found friend, Brooke, whispered annoyed.

"Maybe they'll clean up the dead…" a fairly older woman beside Brook said thoughtfully, looking at her own friend, who had died from weakness after a severe round of coughs.

"Or the poop bucket. It is really full and stinky and yucky." A red haired little girl, who didn't appear to be older than seven, wondered loudly. Haley gulped, remembering the horrid experience earlier that day.

"Think he'll come and give us water again?" Brooke asked with an extra low tune to her voice, avoiding the possibility of being overheard and questioned by others. The blond girl simply shook her head in response, she'd rather not get her hopes higher than she could… and that was pretty darn low.

When the train came to a full stop, the members of the SS in the first wagon started getting off it. This stop was bound to make the already full train even more crowded.

As dozens of other females were shoved into the wagons, a tall blond from the SS began pouring water over the train with a red hose.

The water ran through the wooden cracks, and fell, carrying dirt, into poor awaiting mouths inside the filthy cabin.

The hose man was rather quick, leaving many mouths still in despair, many throats still with acute pain.

"Give them more!" Another tall man, dressed all in black, ordered. When the blond soldier did not comply, Nathan Scott took the hose himself, and begun pouring more water over the wagons, mainly through the windows, trying to avoid the dirt.

It still wasn't enough. But it, indeed, was something.

While Nathan couldn't stop the train and free every 'passenger', it surely was his wish.

Possibly, a death wish.

Inside the dirty wooden rectangle, Haley silently wished for the fastest way to end this. Even if it meant death.

Her own death wish.

Before they left, the SS soldier began another round of shoving people inside the train, making Haley, Brooke and every other woman sitting down, rise to make room for the rest of them. The human warmth was starting to become unbearably hot, and somewhat stinky.

"Auntie? My legs are hurting me… Can I sit down?" It was twelve hours later, and the little one's legs could no longer support her, and the air down where her nose could reach wasn't the purest to breathe.

"I'm sorry sweetie, if you sit down, someone might step on you." Brooke answered the question, without thinking. Indra raised an eyebrow at the older woman and held tightly on Haley's now brown dress.

Even the child could remember Haley's dress as one of the most beautiful one she had ever seen. Once a pearly light pink, a silk lace tied up on her waist was now ripped and had been lost somewhere along this unexpected trip; Indra remember asking Papa for a dress like that, he said she'd get one the day she turned five. Now looking at the dirty skirt, she had doubts of whether she would still ask for one when she finally turned five years old.

"Don't worry, baby; no one is going to step on you." Haley answered pointedly, looking at Brooke who gave her a sheepish look; while reaching her now skinny and weak arms – two years of only potatoes certainly didn't do her any good-, to raise her niece to their eye level.

The youngest breathed in some fresh air, the little bit of it that came through the tiny window; only to realize it wasn't that fresh at all. What she had just gotten inside her little lungs was pure smoke from the train's machinery.

"Auntie!" Indra squealed, but not happily. "What is that?" She pointed outside, and her aunt moved forward so she could see what was approaching. The strange gut feeling she had on the pit of her stomach multiplied in size and only made her feel worse.

All those people in the wagon began pushing each other, in hope to see what was on the outside.

"It is too grey…" Brooke whispered. Haley nodded silently. It was indeed too grey… huge walls closed what seemed to be a giant square, barbed wire everywhere. The train rolled not much gracefully past the open gates and across half of the quad.

The whistles blew louder as the machinery's velocity decreased. Men in their grey uniform stepped off and opened the wooden doors to each and every wagon, the prisoners in the furthest wall to the door started pushing the others, so the ones closer began falling from the train.

Giving some impulse so Indra could jump off and not hurt herself – too much – Haley ended up colliding to the floor, on her knees and hands.

"Up. Now!" one soldier spit.

Swallowing a cry, Haley got up and moved along the lines that were formed, reaching for Indra's hand.

"Indie, stay close." She whispered, looking softly at the child that depended on her. The little girl nodded, and wrapped her thin arms around her aunt's left leg.

"Haley, wait up." Brooke stumbled across the line, so she could move closer to the only ones she knew there… even if she didn't know them well enough, she'd rather be with the closest thing to a friend she had than alone.

"What do you think it's going to happen?" The monotone in her voice was only broken by fear.

"No idea. But we should stick together." The blonde nodded her silent response, as they moved closer to one of the many sheds.

Whispers flew around; some Jew still thought they'd be moving to another ghetto, at least, that was what was promised to them on the station.

-- --

Nathan Scott stepped off the train, fully dressed in his black uniform, the SS symbol in a golden brooch on the neck line. A Luger P 08 tucked on the waistband of his pants, the swastika neatly in view on his left forearm. He was breathtaking. Mostly because when people saw him, they thought death was near and most tried to hold their breaths, unsuccessfully.

He saw a tall blonde woman, dressed in dark green dress uniform, curly hair tucked in a neat bun on the back of her neck, a cap tightly attached to the top of her head, slightly to the right side.

"How was the trip?" She asked bitterly, lifting her hands to take his coat.

"You already know the answer to that, don't you?"

"Yes." Peyton Sawyer looked down to her feet, and fiddled with the buttons of his coat. Even though she was what Hitler would consider a pure Arian, she was an orphan, and the Scotts had taken her under their wings without much argument. But she knew that if she didn't follow their rules, she was also on the death line. Following the Nazi line of thoughts and rules was implicit in being a Scott, even if a surrogate one. It was demanded by Dankrad Scott, and there was no way of disobeying him without punishment.

"Then why did you ask?" He barked.

"Just because I care. I'm enjoying this just as much as you are, so don't you pretend to be the only nice one in this story. Get a hold of yourself, Nathan." Grumpily, she threw his coat upon his foot, and stomped away from him, and towards one of the sheds where the highest members of the Nazi army expected her to be, explaining the rules to the new batch of slaves.

She stood beside the entrance at ease position, as the women coming inside the shed were given a dress uniform, vertically striped in blue and white. A potato sack: was Brooke's first thought on their now permanent outfit.

Grabbing one for herself, Haley ended up straying from Indra, who tripped on a pebbled and fell on her knees on the blonde woman's black polished shoes.

Panic took over the little girl's relative; this would probably be the last she saw of her little Indie. That emotion was suddenly replaced by surprise as the clean blonde woman offered Indra a helping hand. The small child smiled brightly, bound her head in a silent thank you, and skipped towards her aunt, latching on her hand as they walked inside the shed together.

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I am not going to beg for reviews, if you like the story and would like to leave productive criticism, feel free to do so.

Lola.

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